Community Coordinated Response

Community Collaboration for Survivor Support

Sexual Assault Response Team (SART)

The Rensselaer County Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) is a multi-disciplinary response to sexual assault. Our goal is to provide victim-centered care, and better working relationships between disciplines, with the common goal to reduce sexual assault in our community. The team is made up of professionals from law enforcement, healthcare, counseling, advocacy, higher education, and prosecution, and emphasizes overcoming the challenges inherent in working collaboratively on sexual assault cases.

Rensselaer County's SART Activities Include:

• An annual free conference
• As the first identified community SART to conduct tabletop exercises in the United States, the Rensselaer County SART seeks to use hypothetical case scenarios to improve response to sexual assault victims/survivors in our community.
• Monthly meetings and training opportunities

For more information or to join the Rensselaer County SART, please contact sart@sphp.com

Elder Abuse Enhanced Multidisciplinary Team (E-MDT) Initiative

Enhanced Multidisciplinary Teams (E-MDTs) provide a coordinated response to elder abuse cases for individuals aged 60 and older. On these teams, professionals from a variety of disciplines (including adult protective services, aging service providers, district attorneys, mental health providers, forensic accountants, law enforcement, and civil attorneys) collaborate to provide recommendations and support to those working on elder abuse cases.

E-MDTs can support providers in cases of financial exploitation, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect by other and/or emotional abuse. St. Peter’s Crime Victim Services coordinates E-MDTs in Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Columbia, and Greene Counties.

If you are working professionally with an older adult who you believe may be experiencing abuse, please contact E-MDT Coordinator, Marlene Hildenbrandt at emdt@sphp.com or (518) 833-6412.

The Legal Project - Crime Victims Legal Assistance Program

The Legal Project’s Crime Victims Legal Assistance Program provides free civil legal services to income eligible victims/survivors of crime in Albany, Rensselaer, and Schenectady Counties, as well as college students attending school in the Capital Region. Through this partnership between St. Peter’s Crime Victim Services and The Legal Project, the Crime Victims Legal Assistance Program offers offers legal consultation and representation for issues related to crime victimization.

Program attorneys can answer legal questions to help you understand the civil legal process and your rights as a crime victim/survivor. If you choose to take legal action, program attorneys may also represent you, as well as assist you in completing a New York State Office of Victim Services (OVS) Victims’ Compensation Application.

For more information about the Crime Victims Legal Assistance Program, or to set up a no-cost confidential legal consultation, please email the Crime Victims Program Coordinator at cvlap@legalproject.org.